Philadelphia Flyers Buy Out G Ilya Bryzgalov

After a cat-and-mouse game with Bryzgalov's agent, it has been made official that the Flyers are cutting ties with their $51 million goaltender. The news was broken by Flyers beat writer Anthony SanFillippo.

“I met with Ilya this morning and informed him that we are going to exercise a compliance buy out of his contract,” general manager Paul Holmgren said. “This was a very difficult business decision to make for us and we want to thank Ilya for his time here and wish him all the best moving forward.”

The Flyers will pay Bryzgalov approximately $1.643 million per year ($23 million total -- half of what was left on his contract) for the next 14 years. That means Bryzgalov will be on their payroll until 2027 but will not count towards their salary cap.

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Ilya Bryzgalov released a statement through his agent Rich Winter on the afternoon of June 26, 2013. Here is an excerpt from his statement:

“As my family and I move forward to meet the new challenges ahead, I could not leave Philadelphia without publicly thanking Mr. Snider for the faith he showed in me when he committed to the long term contract that has secured my family’s financial future and acknowledging his passion for the game of hockey. Jeniya and I really appreciate his faith in me and what he has done for our family. Mr. Snider has an amazing energy for the deals he does and for winning. Hockey fans in this area should consider themselves lucky to have the team they cheer for led by a man who is as passionate about winning and doing whatever it takes to win as Flyers’ fans are. Getting to know Mr. Snider, has been a great experience. To see his passion for this game has been inspiring."

Chairman Ed Snider released a statement following Bryzgalov's with his thoughts on the move:

"I fully support Paul Holmgren in his decision to use our final compliance buyout for Ilya Bryzgalov. It was a very difficult decision from a financial standpoint, but if Bryz remained a Flyer, the dollars would be far greater in a shorter time frame. We now have cap space, which will allow us to improve our team.

"In the meantime, Bryz can try to find a situation where he can achieve true happiness."